Follow by Email

Thursday, December 10, 2009

After my exams today, I took Blair to get her hearing aid. The appointment went well. She actually "performed" a little for the audiologist, which is strange, because she's not much into doing stuff for strangers. I was glad that her audiologist saw some of the language that Blair has -- in that she understands A LOT of what we tell her to do. I gave the audiologist the list of words and phrases that Blair understands and what she says, and she said that the amount of language Blair has is promising. We will still have to watch her speech though. Through the auditory neuropathy online group, I have read about a family with a child like Blair, lots of hearing and receptive language at 14 months, but they ended up having to do a cochlear implant for speech to develop. I pray that we won't have to do that, but I'm not marking that option off of our list. As a mom, I want to be optimistic about Blair's being in that very small percentage that doesn't have to have interventions for her auditory neuropathy. I want to be realistic at the same time though and remember that most kids have aids or implants. Blair's audiologist did say that they would probably not be willing to implant her with the amount of hearing she has. But if Blair can't put what she hears into words, what happens? It's one of those wait and see things that I'm not good at.Back to the hearing aid... it is a loaner from Oticon, a Vigo. It's a low gain aid set for a mild hearing loss. It's not supposed to damage the hearing she does have. We have it for three months. If we lose it, we have to pay for it... all $1200 for an aid the size of a mandarin orange slice. In less than an hour Blair probably removed that hearing aid 65 times. That will be a battle that will hopefully pass after a few days. I waited until I was on break to take her to get it so that I could have her at home with me, see how she acts with it, and make sure it stays put in her ear. To help us keep up with it, we have a pediatric clip to help us keep it attached to her clothes. (I'm going to have to work on this, because it's yellow-orange and doesn't match anything she has to wear!)So we'll see how it goes! Here's Miss Busy too preoccupied to even mess with the hearing aid.

3
comments:

Ashlee this is hilarious!! Such a busy girl!!!! She is just too cute. We are praying that everything works out without implants, etc but I know that you are just thankful to have Blair here, healthy and happy!!! We are too!!!Enjoy this holiday season with a beautiful (busy) girl!Love,Jamie

Like Across the Branch on Facebook

Child of God, wife of a farmer, mom to a miracle, RN; picture taker, animal lover, Spanish speaker, world traveler, former high school teacher. I love food, knitting, blogging, and living in a small town. I write about a little of all of the above!

Brad is my husband of 6 years and the reason I live across the branch. From a very young age he knew he'd be a farmer. God gave him the love and the talent -- and he's the best looking and the best dressed farmer I know! He's funny, creative, and he's the most wonderful husband and father. He's the one that can make Blair light up like no other.

Blair is four! We are so blessed to have her. She was born very sick, but God gave her strength and brought her through it. She has hearing loss called Auditory Neuropathy and wears hearing aids. She also has chronic lung disease, but you wouldn't know by seeing her! She is the busiest, funniest little thing who keeps us laughing and on our toes. I thank God for her every day.

Leighton is the happy roly poly who joined our family this summer. He has been a joy and is as sweet as his big sister! He's such a blessing, and we're so thankful for him!